Climate Technical report on energy efficiency in HFC-free supermarket refrigeration For the project Global Corporate and Policy Measures to Incentivise Highly Efficient HFC-Free Cooling ©EIAimage WeAuthors: would like to thank ABOUT EIA EIA UK Klára Zolcer Skačanová, shecco 62-63 Upper Street, Ximporae. Ut aut fugitis resti ut atia We investigate and campaign against Anti Gkizelis, shecco London N1 0NY UK nobit ium alici bla cone consequam environmental crime and abuse. [email protected] T: +44 (0) 20 7354 7960 cus aci oditaquates dolorem volla Our undercover investigations E: [email protected] vendam, consequo molor sin net ABOUT shecco expose transnational wildlife crime, eia-international.org fugitatur, qui int que nihic tem with a focus on elephants and asped quei oditaquates dolorem shecco is a global market tigers, and forest crimes such as volla vendam, conseqci oditaquates EIA US accelerator helping its partners illegal logging and deforestation for dolorem volla vendam, consequo PO Box 53343 in the heating, air conditioning cash crops like palm oil. We work to molor sin net fugitatur, qui int que Washington DC 20009 USA and refrigeration sectors bring safeguard global marine ecosystems nihic tem asped quei oditaquates T: +1 202 483 6621 their innovative solutions faster by addressing the threats posed dolorem volla vendam, consuo molor E: [email protected] to the market. We specialise in by plastic pollution, bycatch sin net fugitatur, qui int que nihic eia-global.org integrated services and products to and commercial exploitation of tem asped que n nes ape verrovid advance the use of the five natural whales, dolphins and porpoises. maximolorera doles magni tet ea Environmental Investigation Agency refrigerants carbon dioxide (CO ), Finally, we reduce the impact of voluptas enis as de evel ipsam 2 (UK) Ltd. Company Number: 7752350 ammonia (NH ), hydrocarbons climate change by campaigning dolendit, voluptam3 endusci psunto VAT Number: 440569842. Registered (HC), water and air. Our portfolio to eliminate powerful refrigerant quibusandit, sitaque enture in England and Wales comprises activities in three greenhouse gases, exposing related areas: media, events and market illicit trade and improving energy development. efficiency in the cooling sector. 2 shecco as they roll out HFC-free commercial Introduction refrigeration. The second part of the project will focus on robust energy efficiency funding Current cooling technologies, such as guidelines within the Montreal Protocol. air-conditioning and refrigeration, rely on human-made F-gases (primarily The partnership seeks to support hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and implementation of the CGF’s second hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC)) that are Refrigeration Resolution, bringing about greenhouse gases often several thousand replicable transitions to highly efficient HFC- times more potent than carbon dioxide. Left free commercial refrigeration by influencing unchecked, HFCs could account for nearly 20 and supporting multinational CGF members. per cent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which is why the HFC phase down under the The initiative will identify and work with Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol global corporate leaders to advance energy is such an historic agreement. Cooling also efficiency alongside ambitious actions to uses huge amounts of energy, often from adopt low-GWP technologies and remove the fossil fuels, and is therefore a critical carbon remaining barriers to super efficient HFC-free emissions reduction challenge. cooling. The Environmental Investigation Agency This shecco report contributes to the first (EIA) and shecco have partnered to work on phase of the project through a technical an initiative to bring about the consideration analysis of the options available to of energy efficiency requirements by supermarkets for efficient HFC-free cooling. members of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) ©EIAimage ©EIAimage Above: TEKO CO2 refrigeration system CONTENTS This project is funded Methodology 4 by the Kigali Cooling Abbreviations 5 Efficiency Programme (K-CEP) Executive summary 6 Chapter 1: Introduction to HFC-free energy efficient commercial refrigerations 8 Chapter 2: Technology options for energy efficient HFC-free refrigeration 18 Chapter 3: Improving efficiency in existing systems 54 Chapter 4: Computational tools 60 Conclusions 68 Technical report on energy efficiency in HFC-free supermarket refrigeration 3 Methodology shecco, which specialises in market The interviews aimed to investigate: development, undertook research to present and analyse the best available • Complementary data on energy energy efficient HFC-free technologies for efficiency of HFC-free refrigeration the needs of the commercial refrigeration equipment; sector. • Ways to improve energy efficiency of To fully assess and understand the market, existing refrigeration systems; shecco used various means to ensure a thorough evaluation: • Cost / return on investment for energy efficient HFC-free refrigeration equipment. Desk research The information received through shecco conducted desk research regarding interviews was incorporated in the main the current state of the commercial chapters to support the desk research refrigeration market, policy trends, and findings however, most interviewees have the available natural refrigerant-based been anonymized to protect their privacy. options. Moreover, additional input was received for case studies outlined in this report. An extensive literature review was conducted to identify data Through the conversations it became clear and information regarding energy that the initial cost of systems in absolute consumption, energy efficiency of terms is information that is rarely publicly systems, and information related to communicated. An exception to this is the costs of emerging technologies and case study 2.4 that compares installation savings they can deliver compared to and operating costs between HFC-based conventional systems using HFCs. An and CO2 systems. in-depth presentation of the technical characteristics of current available In general, industry representatives HFC-free technology is made possible tend to express the cost and energy by utilising reports from manufacturers, efficiency differences between systems in external publications, and the research percentage ranges as it varies depending and analysis of the EU-funded project on numerous factors (e.g. size of store, SuperSmart, which seeks to speed up climatic conditions, region / country, etc.). the uptake of more energy-efficient refrigeration, heating and cooling solutions for Europe’s food retail sector by reducing its energy use, lowering its environmental footprint, and increasing its economic benefits. Interviews with key industry stakeholders shecco contacted several leading retailers and system and component manufacturers to gather their experience and expectations of the latest market trends for HFC-free commercial refrigeration systems. Interviews were conducted mainly by telephone and email exchange in the period between December 2017 and March 2018. 4 shecco Abbreviations • COP: Coefficient of performance • CO2e: Carbon dioxide equivalent • GHG: Greenhouse gases • GtCO2e: Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent • GWP: Global warming potential • HCFC: Hydrochlorofluorocarbon • HFC: Hydrofluorocarbon • HVACR: Heating, ventilation, air- conditioning & refrigeration • kW: Kilowatt hour • kWh /m2·a: Kilowatt hour per square meter per annum • LT: Low temperature • MBTUH: Thousand British thermal units per hour • MT: Medium temperature • ODP: Ozone depletion potential • TWh: Terawatt hour • TEWI: Total equivalent warming impact Technical report on energy efficiency in HFC-free supermarket refrigeration 5 Executive Summary 6 shecco The global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) is underway, with the Kigali Amendment coming into effect in 2019 and the EU F-Gas Regulation already impacting market availability and prices of high-GWP HFCs in Europe. Industry is on board and HFC-free possibility to integrate heating and air- technology is developing quickly to conditioning with the refrigeration system meet market demand. However, the HFC and harness the free rejected energy component of a refrigeration system further increases the overall efficiency of is only part of the battle for making stores. the HVACR industry climate-friendly. Refrigeration systems are the largest There are also numerous ways to energy consumers in supermarkets, improve the energy efficiency of existing so improving their efficiency is a refrigeration systems, ranging from high priority. Energy consumption is regular and thorough maintenance responsible for around 65 per cent of the and servicing to improved controls and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from putting doors on display cases. Many the cooling sector, with leakage of HFCs supermarkets have already taken steps to and other F-gases responsible for the improve the environmental impact of their remaining 35 per cent. Consequently, HVACR systems and are reporting positive tackling the climate impact of refrigerants results including reduced refrigerant must be coupled with addressing energy leakage and lower energy bills. efficiency and energy sources of cooling systems. Food retailers should use the opportunity of the HFC phase-down Cooling is necessary for the preservation to simultaneously improve the energy of food, medicine, data and comfort and efficiency and sustainability of their demand is growing rapidly. Given